The artist

As Damien Dufresne says himself: "I let my hands do the talking". His approach is totally new in that it's at the crossroads of makeup, body art, artistic direction and photography. The resulting complexity, technicality and beauty are impressive. Damien Dufresne, a make-up artist by profession for over 30 years, has always worked on images and has taken photographs of his face and body paintings for several years now. These ones in particular were shown in the Skin catalogue published by Assouline in 2014, which gained him international recognition. Accustomed to working with the most prestigious names in beauty, such as Amore Pacific, Intercos, Gamma Croma and L'Oréal, it progressively became apparent to him that photography would be a means to take things up a notch, to surprise and experiment using the different supports offered by his models' faces and bodies, without betraying their personality. ...See moreSee less

About the artwork

Oscillating between romanticism and onirism, Damien Dufresne captures the intimacy of his subjects in order to paint on and work with their bodies. Due to the fact that, unlike canvas, skin perspires, breathes and resists, the resulting beauty is fascinating and the sentiment of fragility that shines through from his models is disquieting in its humanity. Yet, although the image is perfectly mastered, the rendering is not the fruit of a clearly laid down project. On the contrary, it is the outcome of a lengthy process where the image evolves through the coating of makeup, layers of matter, one colour leading to another, one stroke inducing another. It is at the same time a work of strength and delicacy, might and gentleness, simplicity and sophistication, but above all it is extremely poetic. Produced on 7 November 2012 in Paris, the image Rise is of astonishing precision to the extent where the model, Marco Silva, seems to be covered in a second layer of metallic skin.

Interview

<div class='question'>How did you first become passionate about photography?</div><div class='answer'>I have long worked in the studio as a make-up artist, alongside photographers, so that was how the desire to take my own photographs emerged.</div><...

Artwork details

Interview

<div class='question'>How did you first become passionate about photography?</div><div class='answer'>I have long worked in the studio as a make-up artist, alongside photographers, so that was how the desire to take my own photographs emerged.</div><div class='question'>What attracts you to portrait photography?</div><div class='answer'>I don’t only do portraits, but it’s true that when I get closer to the person or character, I feel as though I’m able to perceive more emotion.</div><div class='question'>What would you like to photograph for your next series?</div><div class='answer'>I don't know. But it will definitely be an extension of my current work.</div><div class='question'>Is make-up a major element in your photographs?</div><div class='answer'>I don’t consider my work to be make-up. To me, make-up is synonymous with beauty and femininity. My work is to paint faces, to invent characters, to create different skin textures. I play with textures, layering, and colours.</div><div class='question'>How do you choose the subjects for your photographs?</div><div class='answer'>I do not choose subjects; I choose models.
Well, actually, I meet them by chance.
The subject is the model; the model is my inspiration.
It is him or her that breathes life into my work.
For me, creativity is above all synonymous with freedom.
I don’t like concepts; I seek images that move me, that speak to me.
It’s emotion that interests me.
Obviously my mood also comes into it as well: some days I go with white, other days black. I’m no different than anyone else... fragile.</div><div class='question'>How would you describe your work in a few words?</div><div class='answer'>It is hard to define one’s own work or even talk about it.
But if I had to give you just a few words I would say: instinctive, intuitive.</div><div class='question'>Which moment did you most enjoy taking a photo of? Why?</div><div class='answer'>The first time I put two characters into my frame. Up until then, I’d directed just one character and the day the second character entered my viewfinder; I knew that this work would become a passion.</div><div class='question'>Who are your favourite YellowKorner photographers?</div><div class='answer'>Laurent BAHEUT, Nicolas GUERIN, Lee JEFFRIES, Juliette JOURDAIN, Mathieu RICARD, and Maria SVARBOVA, among others.</div><div class='question'>Any anecdotes about your YellowKorner photographs?</div><div class='answer'>Besides Rise, modelled by Marco Silva, the four other portraits are those of Lin Jun Han, a young Taiwanese architect who I met at a flea market. We had both been attracted to the same small Buddha statue and both wanted to buy it, so we struck up a conversation. I had a shoot scheduled for the next day and one of my models had pulled out, so I suggested he replace him. That was in 2012 and our collaboration, which continues, has become a friendship.</div>

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